For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8GnnKlfYB
No familiar whir from the bagel press.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWfbK1lyR6
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoA2aUmZIvN
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9b3jH8BiN
Because Batman had said:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbBao6cFOp
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61dQqjPTAH
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2rieKfOTw
What we need tonight is continuity. Not broken memories trapped in the same repeating day.”
“You said everything stays the same every time you wake up.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo01v2xcThp
Then that means anything that changes—happens while you're still awake.”
Claire had wanted to push back—“Why does it matter? You’ll forget everything anyway.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkdxCD9Vv2
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AIVfc7zxb
You need to practice recounting your data.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqE7He1MVIf
I’ll leave a way to contact me.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLhaIhdJsn
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrx7aEy4hAq
You’ll need to find a way to tell the future-me everything—precisely—and what to do next.”
Claire had just… stared at him.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2QfwWGfhk
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnnnCmXy2o
He was listening.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2nXzZrcde
He was thinking.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsj59G4xpD
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aSQNT43AE
If anyone could break the loop, it’d be him.
So she got to work.
Dragged the giant whiteboard her aunt had for some reason left behind from the second floor to the third.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoSQtwKGKG
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1p3zffaRMD
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7nuYL61KD
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LvaPn581T
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTrVLaNAQV
Her arms were shaking.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpf8rPtaTfq
Her eyes were dry.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnnvyRBcxTt
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6sEgOdFv7
But she still smiled and replied:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGe7lHDrnvS
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAPnUexIo2
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrx0SrqWzwi
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMBtWaCgiD
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59qYCo9BzG
Batman didn’t touch his cup.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DSCAQKLk8
He was already focused on the board.
“Let’s start. When did you first notice something was off?”
Claire stood in front of the board.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtimrPVhygg
The marker hovered just above its surface.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ38c0bkQVJ
That’s when she realized—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTtKJR1TLP
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzr4sJ5EHC2
“Then I noticed everything was the same. Every single thing. That’s when I started keeping track.”
She told them about the first time Robin knocked on the hotel window.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oRqFEm1VN
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bOL0YWmKq
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBwuk8kM0K
He stood, back straight, listening.
After each section, he reached for the marker and jotted a few lines on the board.
She didn’t know if he’d remember any of it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ919ZUhWg7b
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMg5AgQIWb
The coffee went cold.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2sfkpB1TV
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVgYFEtIjd
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3s1h0yPN1
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8sKxQY33B
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡab9peqgn2V
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu88CcFnwDH
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IxxGG8Rhp
No, really.
She stood in front of the giant whiteboard—originally used for notes like “Trash on Tuesday” or “Stop buying potatoes”—now filled to the edges with Batman’s handwriting.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVGNJlMlzu
Tactical terms.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvpuQrPzGW
Observation protocols.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRisXzi4up
Hypothesis trees.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ip23eZArP
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjinOj0BOq
She could read every word. But when put together, it felt like looking at someone else’s math homework—technically correct, completely unreadable.
Batman had even written her a memory guide.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTUXkGTmoO
Bullet points.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWCY22mu2i
Key phrases.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoaJqvIa4T
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9uKq3MHdN
Once she closed her eyes—gone.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5IJfGVxSM
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BlBOJETMe
Raw memorization.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJSuvkbhSk
Claire slammed her pen down on the desk, fingers diving into her tangled hair.
“God, I hate memorizing.”
It was like elementary school all over again—facing a multiplication quiz while still stuck on “7 times 8 is... what again?”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fJAXKtfKA
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0NywU91Cj
- Design self-verification protocols52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNR2r3ju52W
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpnC8Ol14R
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfu4YYCPiMl
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvB2PtrGplP
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGGSP3dTBL
And below those?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOM2QX8ScQq
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbgowx6pM9
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1TMC0z0DY
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89dxUY2djD
She’d thought she’d feel relief.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcAdYCB2wQ
She didn’t.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYN0lWNuZA
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BwUizRusJ
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmKX41xwW5
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoQZHUjDIl
She was starting to believe he didn’t even need sleep.
She had briefly wondered if he’d vanish at sunrise like a vampire or some brooding mythic shadow.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZ087SkWdi
Nope.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8YI9jAr5A
Still here.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxof5MEQJ75
Drank her coffee.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7w4axCqGl
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDiJOb3yxwp
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡambl26zxfJ
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfejpkKVWqI
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KGUref6W2
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeNqzdoxEh
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIdKUCYSwG
Her ears were ringing.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1NI9VPvQr
Her vision was starting to blur.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpaMDu3gJf
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzN5HdSDRJ
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRA37KegpcZ
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPqgmJjezu
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzLb1Kcssp
A sigh.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8qe8UI0KU
Low.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfzwbCqUz3
Close.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHhwuO3Sav
The kind of sigh you make when you don’t want to do something… but know you have to.
Then she was being lifted.
That jolt of surprise cleared her vision just long enough to see a pair of blue eyes.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQIzj3Q0Gi
So blue. So clear.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC83tCjn1SZ
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzqJtXtu7n
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILa3lOKpPV
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqEwJi02d0
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgozx3S9RP
Her bed was soft. So soft.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4PKptYjOL
And for the first time in what felt like forever—she realized how badly she needed sleep.
Her mind tried to process what she’d forgotten.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXJHZJo1Ax
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFWDcLnp8x
Held her.
Perfectly.
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfeWO5xdph
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHp5iwXvVxB
Same sheets.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIsCriOLL2
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxU5wbJSgdn
Even the dust floating in the air looked copy-pasted from yesterday.
She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then took a long, deep breath.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zfL8M3Tgv
No headache.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3H3ubIQKX
No nausea.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TDbyhyVTK
Her whole body felt like someone had swapped it out for a new one. Even her stomach was fine.
Creepy.
Apparently, any sickness will vanish overnight—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkIf66rCPQ
If you're stuck in a time loop.
Day Ten.
She got out of bed, rubbing her temple as she walked. Her thoughts were sluggish, and the words "Day Ten" rolled through her mind like a bowling ball in slow motion—silent but heavy.
She grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote "Day 10" on it with a thick black marker, placing it in the corner of her desk.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnfgMdoW7q
It was her memory thread.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ssoncNFTi
Her own little mark carved into an unremembering world.
Day Ten was the day Batman showed up.
Claire looked at the words for a moment, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Guess I’m kind of impressive, huh?"
If people in Gotham knew all it took to summon Batman was repeating the same day ten times, half the city would start dabbling in time magic.
She got dressed, went downstairs, and opened the café.
Today she cleaned the windows extra thoroughly.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6S72F1XMZ
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPldCgk0xIj
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9c04kCapuG
It stood out.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9EWTCeRO0
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7c34q2ODK7
Only she knew what day it was.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtCSObXQIf
Only she knew today’s bagel was different from yesterday’s.
But Batman had said it:
“You need a daily signal. Something visible. Something subconscious. Something verifiable.”
Maybe, just maybe…52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HeMMEK3f4
Someday, someone like her might see that note.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkprx2ezotX
And feel something click.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyL3QoGkwH
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWAPCWKBUV
She felt like a corrupted file stuck in the wrong folder—just looping and glitching.
She glanced at the clock. 9:57.
Her eyes drifted to the door.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecfYZx1VGI
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1x9gNYt6o9
What he wore.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlPsoaf36g
His tone of voice.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82PcJAoESj
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUCnsvfbh1
What angle he walked in from.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHpcNZoFxM7
How long he looked at the counter.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEOjRcvkuBi
The pitch of his thank-you.
“You see this man every day. That means he’s not random. He’s a variable. He’s meaningful.”
Claire stood behind the register, adjusting the screen angle while mentally replaying every word.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zQs7kkqYi
Meaningful. Variable. Breach point.
She wanted to snap back—
“Oh sure, easy for you to say. This isn’t an RPG. How the hell am I supposed to spot a glitch in reality?”
But she didn’t.
She just bit her lip, sorted the coin tray, zipped up the change pouch.
She was still wondering—
Was he Batman’s informant at the station?
She shook her head, started folding a dish towel in half, just as she placed it into the second drawer—
The Door Chimed.
Crisp. On time.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9COQbHbn4
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuwCUrwDLI
9:59.
The door pushed open.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAb0wBpned
A familiar pair of blue eyes swept into the room.
They always looked like they carried morning fog—clear, cool, and oddly pure for a city like Gotham.
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
He smiled—polite, just a touch tired.
Claire didn’t respond right away. She just stared at him.
Stared so long she started to feel like a creep, as if she were peeking at the core of some cosmic mystery that hadn’t realized it was a mystery yet.
Is it you?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLm7gPokKHw
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhX300Udhf4
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceQa3uL4MV
Said the exact same line.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftnvgIKakS
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgjq6wHPok
If this guy was an informant, that name would definitely spark some kind of reaction.
She narrowed her eyes, parted her lips—
Then shut them again.
Nope. Too much.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwnBK5UThb
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dIp6dv6Fg
That’s how you end up with a referral to a psychiatrist by tomorrow.
Plan B.
She pointed to the pink note on the window.
“Did you see that?”
Blue Eyes blinked, glanced at the window, then nodded.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
But his face clearly read: “Okay… and?”
Claire resisted the urge to roll her eyes.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlZ5DoBkwr
That one’s not working. Time to upgrade.
She grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled a sentence, and slid it across the counter.
“Do you ever feel like the sun today won’t make it to tomorrow?”
She’d spent days refining that line in her head—poetic, haunting, a little tragic.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9iWfSOe8w
Surely it would hit something.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuiBcx187T
Maybe he’d respond: “How did you know?” or “I’ve been feeling the same.”
He read it.
Paused.
Then frowned.
“Uhh… if you ever need someone to talk to, I know a really good therapist.”
Claire, mentally: ……
Great.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6KsHD3x8P
Another morning, another conversation added to the Folder of Cringe.
She forced a smile.
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
He handed her the money, smiled again, and left.
The door shut.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zBuF2O4hx
The chime rang a second time.
Claire remained where she was, staring at the now-empty doorway.
A quiet line drifted through her mind:
Test Result: Inconclusive.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjP1LjrirsE
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpRPfXpBpI
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTjrM4Z8r5
At least she tried.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiUS1JWqeu
and then Add to home screen.